Low-Dose CPT-11 for Inducing Tumor Dormancy in Metastatic Colon and Gastric Cancers for

Yutaka Takahashi, Hidekazu Kitakata and Masayoshi Mai

Surgical Oncology, Caner Research Institute, Kanazawa University

We tried a new regimen with frequent administration of low-dose CPT-11 to reduce side effects without any impairing efficacy, administering 25 mg/m² of CPT-11 continuously on days 1, 2, and 3 of each week in 8 patients with metastatic colon cancer and 8 with metastatic gastric cancer. Grade-3 marrow depression occurred in only 3 patients. Of our 16 patients, 8 had PR, 7 had NC, and 1 had PD, showing a 50% efficacy. Time to progression (TTP) averaged 5.3 months and median survival time (MST) 11.5 months, significantly superior to rusults for the conventional CPT-11 regimen. These results suggest that the low-dose CPT-11 regimen is promising and potential by reduces side effects and strengthens the antitumor effect, inducing prolonged TTP and survival.

Key words
low dose chemotherapy, tumor dormancy, CPT-11

Reprint requests
Yutaka Takahashi Surgical Oncology, Cancer Reseach Institute, Kanazawa University 4-86 Yoneizumi, Kanazawa, 921-8044 JAPAN

Accepted
December 19, 2000

To read the PDF file you will need Abobe Reader installed on your computer.